Quote Originally Posted by foxtrot View Post
Domains run on a lease basis. If for whatever reason they don't get renewed, the registrars (place that controls domain) points them to advertising while they reap the $$$$$ out of clicks until they get renewed. So, the site is up and running just fine, you just get redirected to the registrar so they can make $ off of you. Not the fault of hosting.

Domains = invented names, the net runs off of numbers (IP). Namservers point the names (co-ar15) to the numbers ( 64.202.190.182 ) Like a phonebook to names. Don't renew those and they put your name with a new "phone number" that has all your friends calling a robot telling them "Hey, please press one to learn about mcdonalds. Press two if you would like to hear google links about your old friend. Press three if you would like to learn about products we think your friend might have been interested in" .... etc.

didn't you listen? I don't need to learn new things!

but since you expounded let me restate the information so that I can be sure I've understood:

when talking about internets and stuff, the term "host" refers only to the physical location where the servers that contain the actual data of a website are located, period, and can never be proscribed to anything else not no way not no how.

so if I were to say "DNS hosting service"

sort of like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_hosting_service

I would be completely incorrect and in need of gentle chiding for my lack of internets knowledge, am I right?